The Boston Celtics lost a big one on Wednesday night, letting up a 14-point lead in the fourth and, ultimately, fell to the defending champion Bucks by a final score of 110-107.
With this, the C’s find themselves down 3-2 in this Eastern Conference Semifinals series and are heading on the road to Milwaukee for a highly pivotal win or go home Game 6.
Already we’ve seen Ime Udoka’s squad steal one in Wisconsin and, all postseason long, when they’ve dealt with adversity they have managed to find a way to pull through.
Unfortunately, the stakes have yet to be as high as they are right now and, in order for them to pull out a win Friday night, they’ll need all hands on deck, and it will require a few members of the ball club flooring the gas and giving it their all in this do or die bout.
With this in mind, we at HH believe there are 3 players, in particular, who must step up their games in this must-win Game 6:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Daniel Theis
With Robert Williams still hobbled due to a left knee ailment that kept him out for nearly a month of action, the big man rotation has been significantly impacted and, against Milwaukee, their shortcomings have been on full display.
Sure, Al Horford has seemingly dipped into the fountain of youth this round, particularly from an offensive perspective, but Grant Williams has struggled significantly, and both players have struggled to maintain Giannis Antetokounmpo and even Brook Lopez (especially on the boards).
The third contributor that has been called upon without Time Lord available has been Daniel Theis, though he, too, has been unable to contain Milwaukee’s frontcourt talents.
While it’s clear that the likes of Horford and Williams (more on him later) must look to step up their games on both ends of the floor in this crunch time Game 6, should Rob Williams remain out once again, or even if he plays in limited action, Theis is going to have to bring his game to a different level, for his rim-protecting and floor spacing skills (if on, that is) will only help better position the C’s for a road victory.
Game 5 was a solid glimpse at what he can provide on offense, as he dropped 11 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor whilst making his lone 3-point attempt, but, from a defensive and, arguably more important, rebounding standpoint, the 30-year-old power forward is going to need to provide a bigger turnout, as he’s someone who has proven to be a stout defender throughout his career (boasts a 106 defensive rating this season with the Celtics and averages 2.3 blocks per 100 possessions during his tenure with the franchise) and, measuring in as the second-tallest player in the main rotation, has a much better opportunity to gobble up boards than the 6-6 Grant Williams.
Friday night, we’re going to need Daniel Theis to tap back into his 2019-20 self or, at the very least, something similar to it.